"A Bear!" gasped Shag. "By the strength of my neck he means to devour A'tim!"
With a rushing charge Shag was upon the fighters—only just in time, for Muskwa had A'tim in his long-clawed grasp, and in another instant would have crushed his Dog ribs. And in the succession of surprises one came to Muskwa with vivid suddenness, for he was lifted on a pair of strong horns, like a Cub, and thrown with great speed far out into the thin waters of the lake.
"Thanks, Great Bull," panted the frightened Dog-Wolf, creeping painfully from the thick sedge grass. "He also was after the ducks, I think; I walked right on top of him, I was that busy with my hunt."
"If I had not been in such a blundering hurry," lamented Shag, "I might have saved him for your eating; but he's gone now."
And so they journeyed till they came to Battle River. There A'tim caught three frogs among the blossom-topped leeks; they were no more than three small oysters to a hungry man.
"The water is deep and the banks steep," grunted Shag, looking dubiously at the stream.
"Lower down is a ford," answered A'tim; "we will cross there." For when Shag swam in deep water the Dog-Wolf found it difficult to keep on his back.
"A teepee!" exclaimed A'tim, as they came close to the crossing.
"Let us go back and swim the river," pleaded Shag; "there will be hunters within the lodge."